


[META] Is It Me You're Looking For? - Britta, Chang and Authority As Romance

by orphan_account



Series: Kink-Bingo 2013 [1]
Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Authority Figures, BDSM, Character Analysis, Community: kink_bingo, Essays, F/M, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-08
Updated: 2013-08-08
Packaged: 2017-12-22 19:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/917095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Analysis of the Britta/Chang plot in "Geography of Global Conflict" as a romance, written in the (sloppy, it's been a while) form of an academic essay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	[META] Is It Me You're Looking For? - Britta, Chang and Authority As Romance

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd. Criticism welcomed.

Introduction  
1\. On domination and submission and the authority kink  
1.1. Domination/submission  
1.2. Authority as kink  
2\. Britta, Chang, and "Geography of Global Conflict" from the point of view of D/s  
2.1. Britta  
2.2. Chang  
2.3. The romance of "Geography of Global Conflict"  
Conclusion

 

**Introduction**

The dynamic between the characters of Britta Perry and Ben Chang in the Season 3, Episode 2 (S3E2) of Community, "Geography of Global Conflict", is presented, through association rather than direct statement, as a brief dominant/submissive encounter centered on fantasies of authority and oppression.

Community, a sitcom about a group of students at the Greendale Community College, is perhaps best known for its pop culture conscious, stylized content, which it pushes without compromising a non-magical setting. In this setting, beyond the laughs, the characterisation is downright gritty.*1

Ben Chang is a cartoonish sometime-villain, who will torture and humiliate the people he is placed in charge of, and chafes whenever required to submit. He's volatile and seems to oscillate between the desire to belong in a group of friends and the desire to place himself above everybody else.

Britta Perry's defining characteristic, aside from being conventionally pretty and white (both aspects that inform her character), is her political pseudo-activism in the name of a number of liberal and second wave feminist causes. She wants to be a good person and defend the weak, but her insecurity and incompetence usually leave her abrasive and ineffective.

The episode in question sees Chang, at this point a security guard at Greendale, itching to exercise some power, while Britta's old friend's imprisonment in Cambodia fills her with guilt over her own political inactivity. He has no real power and she doesn't want to lose her hard-won chance at a degree and a new life. They notice each other's corresponding needs and have a series of meaningless encounters, in which she stages a small rebellion and he mildly reprimands her, while Lionel Richie's 'Hello' plays in the background over slow-motion shots, lampshading the romance inherent in the interaction.

While played for laughs, it is an insightful take on the non-sexual aspect of the domination/submission kink and consistent with Community's style of comedy: addressing and shifting tropes based on characterisation, fitting a character's emergent quality to a particular narrative, and using it to go deeper into the qualities of both the character and the narrative itself.

  
 **1\. On domination and submission and the authority kink**

**1.1. Domination/submission**

> Chang [on handcuffs]: I swear, they're just for sex!

Domination/submission, or D/s (the D is capitalized while the S is not, to underline the difference in status), is an erotic orientation towards an unbalanced power dynamic. There are several definitions of D/s, but with some reservations, one is that dominant partners enjoy controlling submissive partners, whereas submissive partners enjoy being controlled, serving the dominant partner, and giving up their own choices and control in order to please them. The term specifically refers to consensual relationships where the power dynamic is the attraction to both participants.

The term covers a wide range of approaches, including temporary relationships centred on a scene (a domination session, possibly with a narrative), long-term arrangements where the submissive partner becomes the dominant's slave or servant, and anything in between. S/M and painplay are optional, or the play could centre, for example, on unquestioning obedience, humiliation, or domestic chores.

While "dominant" and "submissive" are widely used as nouns, they are adjectives, and it's entirely possible to enjoy acting dominant some of the time without identifying as a dom. In this essay I will prefer to use it as an adjective. There also isn't a single way to be dominant or a single style to dominate, or be submissive or submit; different people will be drawn to different aspects of power play.

It should be noted that there does not need to be any sex for a D/s relationship to be satisfying; the key is often, though not always, control*2. Giving up control gives the submissive partner something they need and desire, which could be relief at letting go of responsibility, a sense of meaning in serving the dominant partner, or finding out just how far you can go in giving up a sense of self. For the dominant partner, it can be the safety in being the master of a situation, the challenge of mastering yourself so that you can handle the responsibility of being in total control*3, or the chance to bring pleasure to your submissive partner -- to serve your servant by giving them what they need from you.

  
 **1.2. Authority as kink**

> Chang: My first cop flashlight. Can’t wait to get some brains on this bad boy.

I would define authority figures as any individuals afforded rights above others, or the right to limit the rights and actions of others, by social contract or through association with an organization capable of using force without repercussion. This includes school teachers, state-appointed guardians, military commanders, politicians, police officers and CEOs. A relevant definition from the Merriam-Webster dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com/) for authority is "power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior". It's easy to see why this would be an attractive angle to explore for someone looking for a D/s relationship.

Authority afforded to a person is voluntary to a degree; if an authority is not recognized, it does not exist, though it may be enforced. This consent is often invisible to those who give it, and the fact that force and punishment are available options to the authority figure whether consent is given or not removes some of its validity.

In D/s, the submissive partner consents to be stripped of power, a reversible process that nonetheless goes far beyond play-pretend.*4 The attraction of play-acting authority figures can strengthen the sense of real force, since authority in society is a deeply ingrained giving up and claiming of power that most people would not even recognize as optional.

There are many ways to engage with authority figures, whether backed up by governments, gangs or workplaces, or simply assumed. These include total submission, grudging submission, and rebellion. Each of those can also be transported into the realm of kink for various purposes and satisfactions; each in its own way acknowledges the authority in question as real and beyond the concept of consent.

  
 **2\. Britta, Chang, and "Geography of Global Conflict" from the point of view of D/s**

**2.1. Britta**

> Britta: I haven’t been tear-gassed in so long.

Britta started out as a love interest for the series' ostensible lead, Jeff Winger, and was identified by series creator Dan Harmon as "an amalgam of a lot of ex-girlfriends"*5 of his. Over the course of the series, Britta evolved into a more individual character, to mixed reactions.

The first half of the first season sees Britta as the unattainable "hottie" and the moral compass whose politics check Jeff's amorality. She's also embraced by the group as a co-leader along with Jeff. Later, her characterization begins to be dominated by her insecurity and the shallowness of her convictions, features that were present from the start. In the first season's second episode, "Spanish 101", it's clear that Britta only talks about censorship in Guatemala because she thinks it's cool to care, but it's not cool to actually stage a demonstration unless that's done in a cool way, too. In episode 5, "Advanced Criminal Law", she creates a crib cheat for a Spanish test she doesn't need to cheat for, and Jeff theorizes it's because she wanted to get caught and fail. Self-sabotage and insecurity both are in keeping with her later characterization, though it can easily be argued that both are later flanderized (exaggerated to the exclusion of other character traits) until they eclipse her first season compassion and talent for observation.

Britta hates herself and seeks out partners who dismiss and belittle her (S3E15, "Origins of Vampire Mythology"). Her life was a directionless mess before she came to Greendale, and she only orients herself enough to pick a major well into her studies. She takes ineffective jabs at a number of immoveable opponents, including Jeff, the patriarchy, and foreign heads of state she has no way of actually reaching. She lacks control of her own life but can't stop trying to take it, because her personality is defined by her resistance to mediocrity. This is pointed out by Evil Abed in S3E22, "Introduction to Finality", in a successful effort to break her emotionally:

> Evil Abed: Do you know what kind of person becomes a psychologist, Britta? A person that wishes deep down that everyone more special than them is sick because healthy sounds so much more exciting than boring. You're average, Britta Perry. You're every kid on the playground that didn't get picked on.

In, S3E12, "Urban Matrimony and the Sandwich Arts", we learn that her greatest fear is getting married and staying married for the rest of her. She also believes that's all she's good for. Her reaction to this is to nearly marry Jeff in a drunken and desperate haze, to get it over with.

Shallow or not, Britta genuinely feels guilty for the good things she has so long as others don't have them too. She has two options: to fight ineffectively against her own privilege, or let it consume and define her. She rarely gets a break from being herself.

A relationship based on a D/s dynamic involves a voluntary loss of control, but a real loss of power is recognized to be a bad idea. Britta would likely make a bad submissive, in that she's likely to get disoriented, lose her grounding, and forget what she was in the relationship for. Nonetheless, her nature makes the dynamic attractive. She wants to punish herself for her privilege and even for her emotional suffering*6 itself, for having no solid justification. I suggest that she wants to drown that emotional suffering into a more bearable kind of pain, and then she wants someone to take away what's left of her free will so that she can rest from the fight, purged of guilt. This is something she only gets once in the span of four seasons, with Chang.

  
 **2.2. Chang**

> Chang: What do I do if I see a crime?  
>  Nunez: Do what a security guard does and call a cop.

We first meet Ben Chang as Señor Chang, the tyrannical Spanish teacher more concerned with keeping the classroom terrified through shows of power than teaching them any actual Spanish. We later learn that he is not actually proficient in the language and tricked his way into the job. We also learn that his wife married him because of his skill in posturing Latin dances, and that his technique for getting women to sleep with him is to beg them to take pity on him.

Before getting the job at Greendale Community College, Chang worked at a supermarket. When his wife kicks him out, he lives in a series of temporary accommodations, from the school air vents to Jeff's couch to a storage locker. It's fair to say he has not had a successful life.

Chang, like Britta, is in denial about his life's actual circumstances. He, too, is driven by a desire to rebel against his reality, in his case, that he has no marketable skills, charisma, or influence in the world. Chang doesn't want to help the world, he wants to rule it, and hurt anyone who doesn't agree. It's intimated at the end of Season Four in what smacks as a retcon that he may have been infected with a disease contracted from a lab monkey that made him lose touch with reality.

Chang is shown to go into psychosis in S3E4, "Competitive Ecology", where he projects a nonsensical film noir detective storyline on his life to compensate for his lack of power. It's notable that this comes after his encounters with Britta have ceased. She got what she needed at that point; he still needs it, and that need escalates into his takeover of the school later in the season.

To take Chang on as a dominant partner in a D/s relationship or trust him with any kind of power in a private scenario is a terrible idea, because not only is he brutal, he is out of even his own control. He is not a strong-willed person, but he's attracted to patterns of domination, and will lie and cheat to get there.  
  
His encounters with Britta occurred when he was still exercising some restraint, though unhappy about it. He had the tools of authority and a position of ceremonial authority without any actual power. Playacting suppression of rebellion with Britta may have been fantasy, but it was also the first emotionally satisfying moment of dominating another that he would have experienced since losing his job as a teacher.

  
 **2.3. The romance of "Geography of Global Conflict"**

> Chang: You just got yourself a warning.  
>  Britta: I piss warnings, pig.

In the beginning of the episode, Britta finds out that an old friend of hers is imprisoned in Cambodia for activism. Britta's first reaction is not to feel sorry for her friend, but to worry about how this will reflect on Britta herself. She is reminded of her identity as a rebel and suddenly feels a fake for playing by society's rules.

At the same time, recently hired security guard Chang finds out just how little power goes with the uniform. He's not allowed to accost students in any way and, should he witness a crime, he would have to call the cops rather than intervene himself.

Chang's supervisor, Sgt. Nunez, sets him the job of guarding a garbage can outside an entrance to make sure no-one trips on it. As Britta storms out on her quest for something to rebel against, he tells her to mind the can. She whirls around and kicks it without even tipping it all the way over. Their eyes meet, and Lionel Richie's 'Hello' begins to play on the background. They are recognizing each other's needs, and the moment is framed as romantic.

Sgt. Nunez calls them both in for a talking-to, in which he lays down their dilemma: That Chang has no real power, and that she would be expelled if she actually broke the law on campus. When she hesitates in the face of this, Chang walks out, angry like a disappointed lover.

Crushed, Britta figures out a way to make a scene without breaking the law. She crashed a model UN competition in an incomprehensible protest against nothing in particular, wearing a black body suit with naked Barbie dolls attached. Chang, who she made sure to send advance warning, shows up, tasers her, and carries her away in his arms. "I knew you'd come," she whispers as their song swells up.

By the end of the episode, the joke has played out and is never referred to again. Britta wanted to be tasered, to feel oppressed, and she got what she wanted. He guilt purged, she moves on, once more able to slip into the life she already has, which is not uncomfortable despite her continuing anxieties and emotional fault lines. Chang, however, returns to a position that he finds impossible to bear.

Their romance is transient and, outside the constraints both of them have put on it, would be unsafe and probably unhealthy. It also manages to be physical and emotional without being sexual, which suggests suprising insight into the dynamics and attractions of domination/submission, which comedy tends to simplify into costumes, key phrases and spanking.

 

**Conclusion**

While the episode stands out among typical depictions of D/s in comedy, it is still a far cry from genuine positive representation of kink in media. An analogous situation would be to depict an Asian man in the role of a Native American and claim it increases Native representation in media. Neither Britta or Chang is shown as identifying as either dominant or submissive, nor is there any suggestion that either of them identifies as kinky, though this can't be entirely ruled out. The show's more obvious representation of kinky people is restricted to Dean Pelton who, while a complex and layered character, is essentially a stereotype of a campy and oversexed gay man, and Pierce Hawthorne, a privileged rich man stuck in a mindset of 1970s sexism.

The point of the episode was not representation or positive portrayal of a D/s dynamic; I would argue that that happened by accident simply because the writers chose to accept that dynamic as it emerged from the characterization and situation of Britta and Chang at this point of Chang's arc. If anything, the fact that it stands out underlines the lack of concern for the emotional dynamics of D/s in media portrayal, specifically when presented as such (examples of similar dynamics in romantic or antagonistic relationships abound). The comedy arises from the recognition of the antagonism between the two as a romantic interaction in which both take part with equal enthusiasm.

 

**References**

1\. Community - TV Series, 2009-2013 (ongoing as of writing)  
2\. Kink Bingo Mods. "Kink-Wiki: Power exchange". http://kink-wiki.dreamwidth.org/12999.html  
3\. Rinella, J. "On Being a Dominant". http://www.altcoach.com/on_being_a_dominant.html  
4\. Kink Bingo Mods. "Kink-Wiki: Obedience/disobedience". http://kink-wiki.dreamwidth.org/11344.html  
5\. Paste. "Catching Up... With Community's Creator Dan Harmon" http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2010/05/catching-up-with-communitys-creator-dan-harmon.html  
6\. Kink Bingo Mods. "Kink-Wiki: Penance/punishment". http://kink-wiki.dreamwidth.org/9677.html


End file.
